Just wanted to say a word about tags.
As you may know I use several blogging platforms and I've also been doing videos this year.
Whenever you post a new blog or video it's fundamental to post associated tags!
Like for this post I'll tag it:
Tags, youtube promotion, blog promotion, online promotion, videos, twitter
And that should probably do, it's not like this is a killer post or anything but when you are posting essential "flagship" material and you want people to see it
You know I love to cut corners and optimize my promotional activity. But because I'm running so many blogs, I've really noticed the ones that are tagged properly are the ones that are bringing in random search traffic!
ALSO: Last night I went out with a friend and shot and edited a fun video for youtube and added some music. Did it in windows moviemaker. Took about 6 hours, all up.
I've only been learning to shoot and make videos this year.
I work 60+ hours a week. Blogging and posting videos should be part of your weekly routine.
This nonsense about needing $5k to do a video that takes months or weeks . . . thats just ridiculous now.
This is the new music industry. It is actually all within your power.
I should really join Twitter, it's so hot right now. Except I know what the principle is, it's like micro social networking and in a big way its foreshadowing the fact we'll all be surfing on our phones pretty soon.
Basically you're using txt message sized posts to update your network.
This is the thing. If your promotion style is very network focused, working in a team or bouncing off others and you're on the move a lot, this could - should - be a go for you.
Myself, I work from home and don't travel very much at all and my promotion style is very much more content focused.
To me I'm not sure I need to know what my colleagues are doing or thinking at multiple points in the day.
AND It's also getting to that point again where I need to watch the work load I'm taking on so it gets hard to respond to the more casual enquiries.
Cheers.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Tags for video, blogs, twitter and yeah . . .
Just wanted to say a word about tags.
As you may know I use several blogging platforms and I've also been doing videos this year.
Whenever you post a new blog or video it's fundamental to post associated tags!
Like for this post I'll tag it:
Tags, youtube promotion, blog promotion, online promotion, videos, twitter
And that should probably do, it's not like this is a killer post or anything but when you are posting essential "flagship" material and you want people to see it
You know I love to cut corners and optimize my promotional activity. But because I'm running so many blogs, I've really noticed the ones that are tagged properly are the ones that are bringing in random search traffic!
ALSO: Last night I went out with a friend and shot and edited a fun video for youtube and added some music. Did it in windows moviemaker. Took about 6 hours, all up.
I've only been learning to shoot and make videos this year.
I work 60+ hours a week. Blogging and posting videos should be part of your weekly routine.
This nonsense about needing $5k to do a video that takes months or weeks . . . thats just ridiculous now.
This is the new music industry. It is actually all within your power.
I should really join Twitter, it's so hot right now. Except I know what the principle is, it's like micro social networking and in a big way its foreshadowing the fact we'll all be surfing on our phones pretty soon.
Basically you're using txt message sized posts to update your network.
This is the thing. If your promotion style is very network focused, working in a team or bouncing off others and you're on the move a lot, this could - should - be a go for you.
Myself, I work from home and don't travel very much at all and my promotion style is very much more content focused.
To me I'm not sure I need to know what my colleagues are doing or thinking at multiple points in the day.
AND It's also getting to that point again where I need to watch the work load I'm taking on so it gets hard to respond to the more casual enquiries.
Cheers.
As you may know I use several blogging platforms and I've also been doing videos this year.
Whenever you post a new blog or video it's fundamental to post associated tags!
Like for this post I'll tag it:
Tags, youtube promotion, blog promotion, online promotion, videos, twitter
And that should probably do, it's not like this is a killer post or anything but when you are posting essential "flagship" material and you want people to see it
You know I love to cut corners and optimize my promotional activity. But because I'm running so many blogs, I've really noticed the ones that are tagged properly are the ones that are bringing in random search traffic!
ALSO: Last night I went out with a friend and shot and edited a fun video for youtube and added some music. Did it in windows moviemaker. Took about 6 hours, all up.
I've only been learning to shoot and make videos this year.
I work 60+ hours a week. Blogging and posting videos should be part of your weekly routine.
This nonsense about needing $5k to do a video that takes months or weeks . . . thats just ridiculous now.
This is the new music industry. It is actually all within your power.
I should really join Twitter, it's so hot right now. Except I know what the principle is, it's like micro social networking and in a big way its foreshadowing the fact we'll all be surfing on our phones pretty soon.
Basically you're using txt message sized posts to update your network.
This is the thing. If your promotion style is very network focused, working in a team or bouncing off others and you're on the move a lot, this could - should - be a go for you.
Myself, I work from home and don't travel very much at all and my promotion style is very much more content focused.
To me I'm not sure I need to know what my colleagues are doing or thinking at multiple points in the day.
AND It's also getting to that point again where I need to watch the work load I'm taking on so it gets hard to respond to the more casual enquiries.
Cheers.
Blog vs. Website . . . from the best. Darren the Problogger
Darren the Problogger at www.problogger.com is the friendly australian who makes like half a mil a year from writing blogs most days and putting little ads down the side of them.
He also has a hip hop theme song which I think is hilarious. Not the song itself, just that he has one.
But what if darren didn't give all of his writing away free? What if he charged? What if you could only get Darren's writing by buying his book?
(I dont think he has a book. He doesn't need a book)
Do you think he'd be making all that money?
Do you think they'd fly him around the world and pay him grands to do speaking and appearances?
Now because musicians dont just write lyrics and have exciting lives because they're muso's, and they ALSO actually make music and videos AS WELL it's not too much of a stretch to consider
HERE'S A CHANCE NOT JUST TO COMPARE WEB DESIGN TO BLOGGING BUT FOR YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHY BLOGGING IS IMPORTANT NOW FOR MUSO'S AND . . . . ANYBODY!
6 Reasons to Consider a Blog
Much has been written on the topic of why blogs are a medium to consider for your website but here’s some that I’m particularly attracted to:
1. Blogs give Individuals, Companies and Brands ‘Voice’ - 5 years ago I was a guy with a ‘voice’ that reached a few hundred people on any given week - today what I write and say is sneezed out to hundreds of thousands of people on any given week. My blogs are the vehicle for this.
2. Blogs are Conversational - both in the style of writing, the way they interact with one another and the way that they are designed with comments at their heart blogs are all about the conversation.
3. Blogs build Trust - as a result of being a relational/conversational medium a blogger can build trust with their audience (something that most businesses would kill for).
4. Blogs build Profile - looking to become an ‘expert’ (or at least be perceived as an expert) in your field. Blogs have the ability to showcase your expertise and help you become the ‘go to’ person in your field. Just today my blog brought me the opportunity to appear in Australia’s national newspaper - the result has been numerous other opportunities.
5. Blogs are Immediate - blogs are a great way to communicate with people because they are so quick to use. Have a thought, write it down, hit publish and within minutes it can be being read and commented upon by your readers.
6. Blogs are a doorway to Search Engines and Social Media - one of the great things about blogs is that they are indexed so well by search engines which love sites that are focused upon a topic, updated regularly etc. Social media sites (particularly bookmarking ones) also love blogs.
(THIS REASON ALONE WAS WHY I GOT INTO BLOGGING - THE OTHER STUFF HERE COMES WITH TIME, AFTER THE FIRST 6 MONTHS OR SO)
The list of reasons to blog goes on and on. Of course everything I’ve mentioned above can also be achieved with other types of websites and just because you have a blog doesn’t mean the above all falls in your lap (it takes work - see below) - however these are some of the attractive aspects of having a blog.
5 Reasons why a Blog May Not be for You
Some bloggers tend to build blogging up to be the answer to every problem you might have online without giving a full picture. Let me shed a little light on the flip-side of blogging and why it might not be the right medium for you.
1. Blogs Take Time to Mature - one of the misconceptions that many new or ‘PreBloggers’ come to blogging with is that they just need to set one up and people will come reading it in their thousands. This is rarely the case. Unless you get extremely lucky or have some existing profile or traffic source to leverage a new blog takes considerable time to build up when it comes to readership. When I surveyed Technorati’s Top 100 blogs last year I found that on average they’d been running for over 3 years to achieve their prominence (it’d be more now).
2. Blogs Take Daily Work - the key to successful blogging is to post quality content on a regular basis. Most bloggers post on a daily basis, many of the top blogs post numerous times per day. Combine this fact with the last point (ie that it takes years for a blog to mature) and you have this question to ask yourself:
“Can you write something of high quality on a daily basis on your chosen topic for the next 3 years?”
That’s 780 posts if you post each weekday for the next 3 years - 1560 if you post twice each weekday…..
3. Blogs Take More than Writing - I’m not trying to depress you but there’s more to successful blogs than writing posts. Bloggers face a lot of other practical challenges on their way to success. These include moderating comments (blogs are the targets of spammers and occasionally ‘trolls’ (trouble makers), design (making your blog look unique can be an important element in it’s success), marketing (new readers don’t just appear - it takes networking, self promotion etc) and more. The list of jobs that a blogger needs to do can be overwhelming to a new blogger. Of course a lot of these skills develop over time and become a natural part of your working rhythm - but it’s worth counting the cost of this before you get into blogging.
4. Bloggers Can be Anti-Trust/Profile Building - I mentioned above that a blog can be a wonderful tool for building your voice, profile and trust. However the flip-side is that you can actually hurt your reputation in your niche if you don’t use your blog well. Everything that you do on your blog has the potential to either build or destroy your reputation in some way. Remember that what you ‘publish’ online is permanent. While you might delete it from your actual blog there will be a record of it somewhere online. So publishing untruths, writing while angry, being manipulative or not being transparent on your blog can actually come back to bite you and hurt your reputation. The vast majority of bloggers have positive experiences from blogging but do enter into it with a little caution and care - the blogosphere can be a very unforgiving place if you give it reason to turn on you.
5. Blogs Rely Upon YOU as a Conversation Starter - I was chatting with a new blogger recently about their experience of starting a blog and they reflected back to me that they didn’t realize how draining it could be to be the instigator of conversation. They’d come from a background of using online forums previously - a medium where the community kicks off conversation. Blogs are similar to forums in that they are conversational, but where anyone can start a conversation on a forum a blog relies upon you to do it. This takes time, energy, creativity and a certain skill.
Once again, this list could go on (and on) but I’ll leave it at that and invite others to add their thoughts in comments.
My hope in exploring some of these themes is that those with established websites might have a better picture of some of the pros and cons of switching from their current website to a blog.
Blog or Website OR Blog and Website
The last question that I’d pose to those considering the switch from a website to a blog is that it’s possible to do both.
My challenge to most people who ask me the question about making the change is to think about whether they really need to replace their current site with a blog or whether they could just add a blog to their established site. In some cases the established site is fairly poor and deleting and replacing it can be the best move - but if you have a site with some level of presence in search engines, traffic and reputation then it can sometimes be better to simply add a blog to it and let what you’ve already developed remain.
The thing is that we’re now seeing many bloggers add other types of websites to their blogs (forums, social networks, static pages etc). Bloggers are realizing that blogs are not the best medium for every situation and that there are opportunities to reach different people with different types of sites - so keep your mind open to the possibilities of keeping what you’ve already established and adding to it rather than replacing it.
(OBVIOUSLY FOR ME MY BLOG IS A PLATFORM FOR IDEAS WHEREAS MY WEBSITE IS A PLACE FOR BUSINESS WHERE I WILL TRY AND SELL YOU STUFF.
FOR MUSO's . . . I'VE ALREADY SAID IT. JUST LIKE MYSPACE YOUR BLOG IS DESIGNED TO LEAD A TRAIL THAT CAN BE FOUND EASILY BACK TO YOUR WEBSITE . . . WHERE YOU CAN TREAT YOUR VALUED GUESTS WITH GRACIOUS HOSPITALITY . . . AND IF YOU'RE REALLY NICE, MAYBE THEY WILL BUY SOMETHING.
He also has a hip hop theme song which I think is hilarious. Not the song itself, just that he has one.
But what if darren didn't give all of his writing away free? What if he charged? What if you could only get Darren's writing by buying his book?
(I dont think he has a book. He doesn't need a book)
Do you think he'd be making all that money?
Do you think they'd fly him around the world and pay him grands to do speaking and appearances?
Now because musicians dont just write lyrics and have exciting lives because they're muso's, and they ALSO actually make music and videos AS WELL it's not too much of a stretch to consider
HERE'S A CHANCE NOT JUST TO COMPARE WEB DESIGN TO BLOGGING BUT FOR YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHY BLOGGING IS IMPORTANT NOW FOR MUSO'S AND . . . . ANYBODY!
6 Reasons to Consider a Blog
Much has been written on the topic of why blogs are a medium to consider for your website but here’s some that I’m particularly attracted to:
1. Blogs give Individuals, Companies and Brands ‘Voice’ - 5 years ago I was a guy with a ‘voice’ that reached a few hundred people on any given week - today what I write and say is sneezed out to hundreds of thousands of people on any given week. My blogs are the vehicle for this.
2. Blogs are Conversational - both in the style of writing, the way they interact with one another and the way that they are designed with comments at their heart blogs are all about the conversation.
3. Blogs build Trust - as a result of being a relational/conversational medium a blogger can build trust with their audience (something that most businesses would kill for).
4. Blogs build Profile - looking to become an ‘expert’ (or at least be perceived as an expert) in your field. Blogs have the ability to showcase your expertise and help you become the ‘go to’ person in your field. Just today my blog brought me the opportunity to appear in Australia’s national newspaper - the result has been numerous other opportunities.
5. Blogs are Immediate - blogs are a great way to communicate with people because they are so quick to use. Have a thought, write it down, hit publish and within minutes it can be being read and commented upon by your readers.
6. Blogs are a doorway to Search Engines and Social Media - one of the great things about blogs is that they are indexed so well by search engines which love sites that are focused upon a topic, updated regularly etc. Social media sites (particularly bookmarking ones) also love blogs.
(THIS REASON ALONE WAS WHY I GOT INTO BLOGGING - THE OTHER STUFF HERE COMES WITH TIME, AFTER THE FIRST 6 MONTHS OR SO)
The list of reasons to blog goes on and on. Of course everything I’ve mentioned above can also be achieved with other types of websites and just because you have a blog doesn’t mean the above all falls in your lap (it takes work - see below) - however these are some of the attractive aspects of having a blog.
5 Reasons why a Blog May Not be for You
Some bloggers tend to build blogging up to be the answer to every problem you might have online without giving a full picture. Let me shed a little light on the flip-side of blogging and why it might not be the right medium for you.
1. Blogs Take Time to Mature - one of the misconceptions that many new or ‘PreBloggers’ come to blogging with is that they just need to set one up and people will come reading it in their thousands. This is rarely the case. Unless you get extremely lucky or have some existing profile or traffic source to leverage a new blog takes considerable time to build up when it comes to readership. When I surveyed Technorati’s Top 100 blogs last year I found that on average they’d been running for over 3 years to achieve their prominence (it’d be more now).
2. Blogs Take Daily Work - the key to successful blogging is to post quality content on a regular basis. Most bloggers post on a daily basis, many of the top blogs post numerous times per day. Combine this fact with the last point (ie that it takes years for a blog to mature) and you have this question to ask yourself:
“Can you write something of high quality on a daily basis on your chosen topic for the next 3 years?”
That’s 780 posts if you post each weekday for the next 3 years - 1560 if you post twice each weekday…..
3. Blogs Take More than Writing - I’m not trying to depress you but there’s more to successful blogs than writing posts. Bloggers face a lot of other practical challenges on their way to success. These include moderating comments (blogs are the targets of spammers and occasionally ‘trolls’ (trouble makers), design (making your blog look unique can be an important element in it’s success), marketing (new readers don’t just appear - it takes networking, self promotion etc) and more. The list of jobs that a blogger needs to do can be overwhelming to a new blogger. Of course a lot of these skills develop over time and become a natural part of your working rhythm - but it’s worth counting the cost of this before you get into blogging.
4. Bloggers Can be Anti-Trust/Profile Building - I mentioned above that a blog can be a wonderful tool for building your voice, profile and trust. However the flip-side is that you can actually hurt your reputation in your niche if you don’t use your blog well. Everything that you do on your blog has the potential to either build or destroy your reputation in some way. Remember that what you ‘publish’ online is permanent. While you might delete it from your actual blog there will be a record of it somewhere online. So publishing untruths, writing while angry, being manipulative or not being transparent on your blog can actually come back to bite you and hurt your reputation. The vast majority of bloggers have positive experiences from blogging but do enter into it with a little caution and care - the blogosphere can be a very unforgiving place if you give it reason to turn on you.
5. Blogs Rely Upon YOU as a Conversation Starter - I was chatting with a new blogger recently about their experience of starting a blog and they reflected back to me that they didn’t realize how draining it could be to be the instigator of conversation. They’d come from a background of using online forums previously - a medium where the community kicks off conversation. Blogs are similar to forums in that they are conversational, but where anyone can start a conversation on a forum a blog relies upon you to do it. This takes time, energy, creativity and a certain skill.
Once again, this list could go on (and on) but I’ll leave it at that and invite others to add their thoughts in comments.
My hope in exploring some of these themes is that those with established websites might have a better picture of some of the pros and cons of switching from their current website to a blog.
Blog or Website OR Blog and Website
The last question that I’d pose to those considering the switch from a website to a blog is that it’s possible to do both.
My challenge to most people who ask me the question about making the change is to think about whether they really need to replace their current site with a blog or whether they could just add a blog to their established site. In some cases the established site is fairly poor and deleting and replacing it can be the best move - but if you have a site with some level of presence in search engines, traffic and reputation then it can sometimes be better to simply add a blog to it and let what you’ve already developed remain.
The thing is that we’re now seeing many bloggers add other types of websites to their blogs (forums, social networks, static pages etc). Bloggers are realizing that blogs are not the best medium for every situation and that there are opportunities to reach different people with different types of sites - so keep your mind open to the possibilities of keeping what you’ve already established and adding to it rather than replacing it.
(OBVIOUSLY FOR ME MY BLOG IS A PLATFORM FOR IDEAS WHEREAS MY WEBSITE IS A PLACE FOR BUSINESS WHERE I WILL TRY AND SELL YOU STUFF.
FOR MUSO's . . . I'VE ALREADY SAID IT. JUST LIKE MYSPACE YOUR BLOG IS DESIGNED TO LEAD A TRAIL THAT CAN BE FOUND EASILY BACK TO YOUR WEBSITE . . . WHERE YOU CAN TREAT YOUR VALUED GUESTS WITH GRACIOUS HOSPITALITY . . . AND IF YOU'RE REALLY NICE, MAYBE THEY WILL BUY SOMETHING.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
The entrepreneurial mind: musicians as artisans
There are bloggers everywhere interested in whats happening to the music industry.
I think a lot of it is about recognising what happens to an industry once technology allows it to go fully digital, because everything thats happening to CD's . . . well the DVD is right behind it . . . and who knows what we'll be able to fit down the phone line in 10 years . . .
This from Professor Cornwall's "Entrepreneurial mind" blog.
The music industry is facing an interesting puzzle these days How do you run a business where customers do not want to pay and they do not want advertising? From today's Tennessean:
Efforts to sell music by subscription have mainly failed.
Yahoo recently gave up on its Music Unlimited subscription service and sent its customers to Rhapsody, another struggling music provider.
But traditional radio's offer of free music surrounded by audio advertising also is being rejected by a generation that resents undesirable interruptions.
"They want to be the program director, and they insist that the program be free," says Jerry Del Colliano, a professor of music industry at the University of Southern California and a former executive at Top 40 WIBG in Philadelphia.
The big boys in the industry do what big boys do in any industry undergoing fundamental change -- they try to get the government to protect their interests. From TechCrunch (via Andy Tabar):
Warner Music, fully aware that the days of charging for recorded music are coming to an end, is now pushing for a music tax.
This isn’t the first time someone has called for a music tax. Peter Jenner argued for it in Europe in 2006. Trent Reznor said the same thing last year (as did the Songwriters Association of Canada)....
But Warner Music is doing more than just talking about a music tax. They’ve hired industry veteran Jim Griffin to create a new entity that would create a pool of money from user fees to be distributed to artists and copyright holders.
We may be witnessing the end of the structure of the music industry as we know it. The mass produced, mass marketed music is becoming a relic of the past. And what does the future hold?
The predictions from the Institutue for the Future about the future of small business might offer a glimpse into the future of music:
Today, there are 26 million small businesses in the U.S. that generate roughly $5 trillion in annual sales. If they were a country that would make them the 2nd largest economy in the world! Those numbers will continue to grow over the next decade as small businesses re-emerge as artisans with even more economic force.
Artisans, historically defined as skilled craftsmen who fashioned goods by hand, will re-emerge as an influential force in the coming decade. These next-gen artisans will craft their goods and shape the economy -- through upswings and downturns -- with an effect reaching far beyond their neighborhoods, or even their nations. They'll work differently than their medieval counterparts, combining brain with brawn as advances in technology and the reaches of globalization give them greater opportunities to succeed.
What would a musical artisan look like? Probably a lot like James Lee Stanley.
My wife and I first heard James Lee Stanley at a "coffee house" in the 1970s when we were attending the University of Wisconsin -- Stevens Point (WAY up north!!). James Lee was one of many songwriters who made the circuit performing on college campuses at coffee house events. (As a note of Entrepreneurial Mind trivia, I played in a couple of coffee house sessions myself). The songwriters/musicians got a small payment from the school and were allowed to sell their record albums (for the younger generation -- that is what we used to call "vinyl").
Fast forward to 2008. One of my winter projects was to convert many of our old vinyl albums into digital. When I got to our collection of records from our coffee house days, I decided to "Google" the songwriters to see what happened to them. Many had faded into obscurity before the Internet was able to immortalize them in digital splendor.
James Lee Stanley on the other hand was alive and well and still making the circuit. He had survived as an artisan in the music industry. He's got a website. And he has a blog offering "tips, hints, clues and info for the artist in us all." His blog chronicles the life of a musical artisan offering his thoughts on touring, performing, writing, studio work, contracts, stringing guitars, and so forth. He still writes music, still records and still tours.
Why does he continue to perform for well over thirty years? Not for possible fame and not for financial wealth.
What I know is that following your bliss is more rewarding than making a bunch of money at something you absolutely hate doing. I don’t feel that I’ve wasted my life or that I could have been more successful at something else. I love what I do and I love trying to get better at it and I love it that at my stage of life I still have so much passion for what I do and I love how vibrant and alive it keeps me.
So what is the future of the music industry? I hope it is not an industry propped up by government intervention as Warner Music would have it.
Instead, I hope that it is an industry sustained by talented artists -- and successful artisans -- who help us understand love, heart ache, happiness, sadness, joy, despair. I hope it is full of people like James Lee Stanley, whose view of success in his career is one we all can learn something from, be we musicians or be we entrepreneurs.
I think a lot of it is about recognising what happens to an industry once technology allows it to go fully digital, because everything thats happening to CD's . . . well the DVD is right behind it . . . and who knows what we'll be able to fit down the phone line in 10 years . . .
This from Professor Cornwall's "Entrepreneurial mind" blog.
The music industry is facing an interesting puzzle these days How do you run a business where customers do not want to pay and they do not want advertising? From today's Tennessean:
Efforts to sell music by subscription have mainly failed.
Yahoo recently gave up on its Music Unlimited subscription service and sent its customers to Rhapsody, another struggling music provider.
But traditional radio's offer of free music surrounded by audio advertising also is being rejected by a generation that resents undesirable interruptions.
"They want to be the program director, and they insist that the program be free," says Jerry Del Colliano, a professor of music industry at the University of Southern California and a former executive at Top 40 WIBG in Philadelphia.
The big boys in the industry do what big boys do in any industry undergoing fundamental change -- they try to get the government to protect their interests. From TechCrunch (via Andy Tabar):
Warner Music, fully aware that the days of charging for recorded music are coming to an end, is now pushing for a music tax.
This isn’t the first time someone has called for a music tax. Peter Jenner argued for it in Europe in 2006. Trent Reznor said the same thing last year (as did the Songwriters Association of Canada)....
But Warner Music is doing more than just talking about a music tax. They’ve hired industry veteran Jim Griffin to create a new entity that would create a pool of money from user fees to be distributed to artists and copyright holders.
We may be witnessing the end of the structure of the music industry as we know it. The mass produced, mass marketed music is becoming a relic of the past. And what does the future hold?
The predictions from the Institutue for the Future about the future of small business might offer a glimpse into the future of music:
Today, there are 26 million small businesses in the U.S. that generate roughly $5 trillion in annual sales. If they were a country that would make them the 2nd largest economy in the world! Those numbers will continue to grow over the next decade as small businesses re-emerge as artisans with even more economic force.
Artisans, historically defined as skilled craftsmen who fashioned goods by hand, will re-emerge as an influential force in the coming decade. These next-gen artisans will craft their goods and shape the economy -- through upswings and downturns -- with an effect reaching far beyond their neighborhoods, or even their nations. They'll work differently than their medieval counterparts, combining brain with brawn as advances in technology and the reaches of globalization give them greater opportunities to succeed.
What would a musical artisan look like? Probably a lot like James Lee Stanley.
My wife and I first heard James Lee Stanley at a "coffee house" in the 1970s when we were attending the University of Wisconsin -- Stevens Point (WAY up north!!). James Lee was one of many songwriters who made the circuit performing on college campuses at coffee house events. (As a note of Entrepreneurial Mind trivia, I played in a couple of coffee house sessions myself). The songwriters/musicians got a small payment from the school and were allowed to sell their record albums (for the younger generation -- that is what we used to call "vinyl").
Fast forward to 2008. One of my winter projects was to convert many of our old vinyl albums into digital. When I got to our collection of records from our coffee house days, I decided to "Google" the songwriters to see what happened to them. Many had faded into obscurity before the Internet was able to immortalize them in digital splendor.
James Lee Stanley on the other hand was alive and well and still making the circuit. He had survived as an artisan in the music industry. He's got a website. And he has a blog offering "tips, hints, clues and info for the artist in us all." His blog chronicles the life of a musical artisan offering his thoughts on touring, performing, writing, studio work, contracts, stringing guitars, and so forth. He still writes music, still records and still tours.
Why does he continue to perform for well over thirty years? Not for possible fame and not for financial wealth.
What I know is that following your bliss is more rewarding than making a bunch of money at something you absolutely hate doing. I don’t feel that I’ve wasted my life or that I could have been more successful at something else. I love what I do and I love trying to get better at it and I love it that at my stage of life I still have so much passion for what I do and I love how vibrant and alive it keeps me.
So what is the future of the music industry? I hope it is not an industry propped up by government intervention as Warner Music would have it.
Instead, I hope that it is an industry sustained by talented artists -- and successful artisans -- who help us understand love, heart ache, happiness, sadness, joy, despair. I hope it is full of people like James Lee Stanley, whose view of success in his career is one we all can learn something from, be we musicians or be we entrepreneurs.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The geeks shall inherit the music industry
Did you get the message from 2009?
Leave your labels now. The geeks are coming and they will eat everyone who works at your label except maybe the young guy who updates the myspace street team pages who will live among them and learn of their ways in the new music industry.
As we speak, geeks are monetizing content in the night. Soon their geek armies will be ready to monetize you, monetize your face, monetize your music, monetize your website, your blog, your dog and your mother.
It’s going full on now.
I still call myself a musician yknow. But deep inside me, something has changed. Web 2.0 has changed me. In my heart I have turned geek.
And while I’ve been yipping on my blog about musicians using social media, and search optimisation and websites and software that will automate and tricks that are sneakier than your pants . . . the lord of all geeks, their god if you will, he who is known as Steve Jobs, boss of Apple has decided that things are going to change.
He is going to be the boss of music from now.
Steve says to the majors - that y’know, seeing as I’m making all the money with my little ipod thingee’s how about you like, give me all the music to put on my ipods and I’ll give you like . . . $20?
Of course the majors are fucked so they’ll take anything to eat. But then whats $20 split between 4 labels and most of the acts in the history of pop music and what does it leave for you if you’re signed? Not much even when you times it by the amount of ipods sold.
This way, if you’re not with a major, your music isn’t given away free with an ipod, so you’re at a major disadvantage because people can already listen to bands they know for free, and find way more bands for free, but your band wont be one of them.
But even when you do get on the ipods you’ll only be getting your percentage of fuck all. It will be so little its not funny.
Because I’m sure they’ll make it so anyone can get on the ipod if they want to. I mean then . . . why do you even need a label if everyone just buys an ipod and gets all the music free? If this happens, I believe the big major labels will just wither.
And then the musicians will be alone. Just the music and big Steve.
But you don’t have to be scared of big Steve, even when there’s so many bands to feed and so much music and only $20 to share.
Because I told you.
As we speak, geeks are monetizing content in the night.
. Soon their geek armies will be ready to monetize you, monetize your face, monetize your music, monetize your website, your blog, your dog and your mother.
I am among their ranks. By night I train, I learn of the black hat and the white.
We don’t make money out of selling things! Don’t be silly.
Artists create attention. We turn attention into money.
We are geeks. We do things differently. The way of the geek is not to work!
It is to design and run a computer program to do it.
It is to pay some guy in India or China to do it.
Or even pay some guy in India or China to design and run a computer program to do it.
Sing your song. Play your tune. Leave the rest to the geeks.
READY YOURSELVES OH YE PLAYERS AND SINGERS OF SONGS!
THE GEEK MAN COMETH
FLEE YOUR LABEL OR PERRRISHHHHH!!!!!
Leave your labels now. The geeks are coming and they will eat everyone who works at your label except maybe the young guy who updates the myspace street team pages who will live among them and learn of their ways in the new music industry.
As we speak, geeks are monetizing content in the night. Soon their geek armies will be ready to monetize you, monetize your face, monetize your music, monetize your website, your blog, your dog and your mother.
It’s going full on now.
I still call myself a musician yknow. But deep inside me, something has changed. Web 2.0 has changed me. In my heart I have turned geek.
And while I’ve been yipping on my blog about musicians using social media, and search optimisation and websites and software that will automate and tricks that are sneakier than your pants . . . the lord of all geeks, their god if you will, he who is known as Steve Jobs, boss of Apple has decided that things are going to change.
He is going to be the boss of music from now.
Steve says to the majors - that y’know, seeing as I’m making all the money with my little ipod thingee’s how about you like, give me all the music to put on my ipods and I’ll give you like . . . $20?
Of course the majors are fucked so they’ll take anything to eat. But then whats $20 split between 4 labels and most of the acts in the history of pop music and what does it leave for you if you’re signed? Not much even when you times it by the amount of ipods sold.
This way, if you’re not with a major, your music isn’t given away free with an ipod, so you’re at a major disadvantage because people can already listen to bands they know for free, and find way more bands for free, but your band wont be one of them.
But even when you do get on the ipods you’ll only be getting your percentage of fuck all. It will be so little its not funny.
Because I’m sure they’ll make it so anyone can get on the ipod if they want to. I mean then . . . why do you even need a label if everyone just buys an ipod and gets all the music free? If this happens, I believe the big major labels will just wither.
And then the musicians will be alone. Just the music and big Steve.
But you don’t have to be scared of big Steve, even when there’s so many bands to feed and so much music and only $20 to share.
Because I told you.
As we speak, geeks are monetizing content in the night.
. Soon their geek armies will be ready to monetize you, monetize your face, monetize your music, monetize your website, your blog, your dog and your mother.
I am among their ranks. By night I train, I learn of the black hat and the white.
We don’t make money out of selling things! Don’t be silly.
Artists create attention. We turn attention into money.
We are geeks. We do things differently. The way of the geek is not to work!
It is to design and run a computer program to do it.
It is to pay some guy in India or China to do it.
Or even pay some guy in India or China to design and run a computer program to do it.
Sing your song. Play your tune. Leave the rest to the geeks.
READY YOURSELVES OH YE PLAYERS AND SINGERS OF SONGS!
THE GEEK MAN COMETH
FLEE YOUR LABEL OR PERRRISHHHHH!!!!!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Blogging is the new myspace: march report on web 2.1
Hi I’m Matt from kurb promotions
You might guess why I’m here. The arse is dropping out of Myspace fast and it’s time for us all to let go and move on.
Obviously I’ve been a bit of a myspace go to guy and I’ve still got all these articles on the web of me going on probably about how great myspace is for promotion and I need to update on that to keep my credibility in tact!!!
MYSPACE IS NO LONGER SINGULARILY IMPORTANT TO YOUR INTERNET PROMOTION.
it’s reached the untipping point.
To me myspace promotion is like street postering for a gig. Does it work? Depends on the act, the night, who knows, it’s cheap. You wanna risk NOT doing it?
But youre mad to think posters or myspace will make you a success.
It’s a bit like moving out of home.
There’ll be many other websites and internet fads but none like myspace was. And you’ll still have to come home for dinner once a month to check your messages and clean the spam off your comments. But you don’t need myspace any more, and Tom’s done all he could to prepare you for the world and help you become a grown up musician.
You’re on your own with so many choices.
What about facebook? It’s all so cliqqy. Bebo? Isn’t the crowd a bit young?
It’s a real bummer! It was so easy when everyone was in the same place! Now all the kids are on bebo and the grown ups and the cool kids are on facebook and basically BLOGS ARE BACK in a big way.
Now before we go on I must update you:
• The New York Post reported today Sony BMG and Warner Music Group are both near deals with MySpace for its new music site. One source said, "Everybody's operating with a sense of urgency to try to close it out." Major music companies are taking an equity stakes in MySpace Music and will share in the advertising revenue. Expect both ad-supported streams and paid downloads at the site. (New York Post)
Will this turn things around?
No I don’t think so. Myspace is just doing what Facebook just did, cashing in. And I think to the average muso it wont work, and to the general user it looks kind of ugly. Oh they’re monetizing, but does it feel right?
But what is happening right now is the massive energy from Myspace is now rapidly dispersing.
Where is it going?
Yes a lot of it has gone to Facebook and Bebo but artists following the punters soon realised these sites didn’t favour promotion the way myspace did, and even I’ve had a hard time and never really got the hang of using automation on them.
Following the fall out from myspace, internet marketing types have gone back to their roots. Search engines and blogging. I’ve gone to blogging. Artists are jumping on blogging and I think musicians and other heavy net users are basically launching off a social network environment into blogs pretty freely right now.
And marketers are just going apeshit over bookmarking. I’ve seen it, seen my site spike like 500 visitors out of nowhere. I don’t know how it happened but I know they came from stumbleupon. Don’t worry I’m fully tooled up to go into this and get ninja on it.
But internet promotion is adjusting to web 2.0. Internet people know that spam cannot live in an information efficient environment.
It’s back to the grindstone for the marketers in the big bad world of social media, and for the artists as well.
BUT myspace has transformed the users experience of the net. Myspace taught people to interact and find new music, and they are leaving myspace looking for that same experience. Connection. That’s where you need to put your music in the equation.
You just can’t rely on myspace any more to be the foundation of your internet promotion . You gotta be on Facebook and Bebo too. Will it work? I dunno – do you want to be unprepared? You gotta be on last.fm and garageband for ilike, reverbnation, Imeem, soundclick, and download, mp3.com, twitter of course – and the list goes on!
AND you got to update your blog and build it all on your own. But at least it’s YOUR blog.
Blogger.com has shot to number #11 most used website by New Zealanders – while myspace languishes at #23. You see what I mean?(Bebo + Facebook are battling it out at #7 and #8. Both numbers have stopped growing. LOOK OUT SOCIAL NETWORKING FATIGUE)
And you won’t be making the same mistake as with myspace. You want these peoples Email address. Or increasingly, you’ll want them to add your RSS feed.
You want them to do this willingly.
Sign them up. Sign them up on your site, on your blog, in one of the dozen or so social profiles you’ll have to maintain.
Because when you’ve got 1000 peope ready and willing to listen to what you have to say – not just some “friend” on some tacky website
That’s when we monetize. First we get their attention. Then we get their money.
NEXT EPISODE:
THE GEEKS SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH!!!!!
RABID JOBSIAN GEEKS RAVAGE AND EAT THE BRAINS OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY DEVOURING OVERPAID EXECUTIVES AS SHARE PRICES PLUMMET . . .
NEW SCRIBE ALBUM OUT ON VODAFONE?
UHHH EVERMORE SIGNED TO IHUG????
UHHHH
Kurb is a media promotions company providing a regular blog on digital music promotion, marketing digital content and creating revenue from new media online.
Kurb also provides online promotion and revenue management services for musicians and artists internationally And the best value fast turnover physical media services in
Our physical media services come with free graphic set up and support, free delivery, and free promotions advice and support for musicians.
http://www.kurb.co.nz
http://www.myspace.com/kurbpromo
http://www.youtube.com/user/kurbpromo -
http://kurbpromotion.wordpress.com
http://kurbpromotion.blogspot.com
http://www.squidoo.com/kurb
All the best with your project, from Kurb
For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo
DIGITAL COACHING AND ONLINE MANAGEMENT STARTS @ $NZ250 P/MONTH P/ACT
Oh hi, since myspace is dead, can I hang out on your website for awhile?
Hi everyone!
This is Matt from Kurb promotions.
We are media services company that specializes in global online promotion for artists.
Y’know. Myspace. Youtube. Itunes. Blogs and RSS. Search engine optimisation. Websites. Aggregators. Ad supported revenue. All the computer stuff.
We also have some exceptionally cheap physical media services such as CD’s, DVD’s and posters with a free delivery policy so you can do it all over email.
I’ve been killing it on myspace and blogging up a storm for the last 18 months and I wanted to share some articles I’ve written.
There’s a lot of people blogging about Radiohead and Madonna and changes to the music industry but not that many people blogging about the reality of nuts and bolts internet promotion, breaking an act online and what is refered to as “monetizing” online content. I.E. making money of it.
The word “monetize” is basically used to infer to the character of most new web concepts which have become successful and THEN turned that success into income – they’re two distinct operations and this is something modern artists have to be aware of.
It’s all about new media and web 2.0. That means a new version of the internet that is driven by interaction and choice unlike the old version which was more like radio or TV. You sat there and you listened or watched whatever they chose to provide.
This is all of course what I do for a job. I help artists do the internet, I make CD’s, I make posters and I put them up.
I will probably only be posting the odd article that seems to make more sense than usual when and where I get the chance, otherwise, check out my blog at:
http://kurbpromotion.wordpress.com
You’ll find heaps of industry tidbits and analysis – sometimes borrowed from other blogs – but also lots of practically applicable tips and kind of low key knowledge basically based around how the internet will make money for digital content creators.
Kurb is a media promotions company providing a regular blog on digital music promotion, marketing digital content and creating revenue from new media online.
This is Matt from Kurb promotions.
We are media services company that specializes in global online promotion for artists.
Y’know. Myspace. Youtube. Itunes. Blogs and RSS. Search engine optimisation. Websites. Aggregators. Ad supported revenue. All the computer stuff.
We also have some exceptionally cheap physical media services such as CD’s, DVD’s and posters with a free delivery policy so you can do it all over email.
I’ve been killing it on myspace and blogging up a storm for the last 18 months and I wanted to share some articles I’ve written.
There’s a lot of people blogging about Radiohead and Madonna and changes to the music industry but not that many people blogging about the reality of nuts and bolts internet promotion, breaking an act online and what is refered to as “monetizing” online content. I.E. making money of it.
The word “monetize” is basically used to infer to the character of most new web concepts which have become successful and THEN turned that success into income – they’re two distinct operations and this is something modern artists have to be aware of.
It’s all about new media and web 2.0. That means a new version of the internet that is driven by interaction and choice unlike the old version which was more like radio or TV. You sat there and you listened or watched whatever they chose to provide.
This is all of course what I do for a job. I help artists do the internet, I make CD’s, I make posters and I put them up.
I will probably only be posting the odd article that seems to make more sense than usual when and where I get the chance, otherwise, check out my blog at:
http://kurbpromotion.wordpress.com
You’ll find heaps of industry tidbits and analysis – sometimes borrowed from other blogs – but also lots of practically applicable tips and kind of low key knowledge basically based around how the internet will make money for digital content creators.
Kurb is a media promotions company providing a regular blog on digital music promotion, marketing digital content and creating revenue from new media online.
Kurb also provides online promotion and revenue management services for musicians and artists internationally And the best value fast turnover physical media services in
Our physical media services come with free graphic set up and support, free delivery, and free promotions advice and support for musicians.
http://www.kurb.co.nz/
http://www.myspace.com/kurbpromo
http://www.youtube.com/user/kurbpromo -
http://kurbpromotion.wordpress.com/
http://kurbpromotion.blogspot.com/
http://www.squidoo.com/kurb
All the best with your project, from Kurb
For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo
DIGITAL COACHING AND ONLINE MANAGEMENT STARTS @ $NZ250 P/MONTH P/ACT
March 08 online music promotion update: packages almost full
March online music promotion round up: packages almost full
So digital coaching packages have been filling up quite nicely so you have to get in there. There are 3 spots left and there are 3 people who are interested.
Unlike last year I will be implementing a waiting list and I will put up my prices if I have to keep demand under control because that’s business.
What it means for 50 / 50:
The more people I have paying me, the higher standard ill expect from my 50/50 artists.
what about the plasticast?
Honestly, we’ll have to see. My paying clients come first.
BLOGS COMING UP:
The word on Life after Myspace – where to now?
Lets update and get real about myspace.
The geeks shall inherit the earth? Flee your labels, the geeks are coming!!!
How geeks will destroy and rebuild the music industry
And . . .
I love my competition:
“The internet is undeniably the most valuable tool for the modern musician and any musician not utilizing this technology to promote their music is basically a "caveman musician
Not having your presence felt on the internet is another way of saying you do not want to be discovered.
We work hard to provide you with this internet promotion services and softwares and this is a package included for all our clients to enjoy.”
I love that - “caveman musician” haha funny.
For the first time I’ve found some guys doing what I’m doing who aren’t rip offs. They are talking a whole lot of crap but at least theyre not over charging for what theyre doing.
Now I can’t share ALL my secrets but I will be outsourcing some stuff to these guys so I can provide better all over service. I would not really recommend any artist deal with them directly anyway because not only do I know the basis of their outrageous promises, it is about 90% likely these guys are in India or POSSIBLY China.
Now these guys have got their technical stuff – their “tools” down but when it comes to building real strategies I wouldn’t rely blindly on guys who have probably never been out of India or China to understand the subtleties of promoting your music or finding your audience.
That’s why a lot of this stuff has to be supervised and a lot of the tools they offer have to be deployed in a sensitive way. That’s what I do.
TIDBITS
• The New York Post reported today Sony BMG and Warner Music Group are both near deals with MySpace for its new music site. One source said, "Everybody's operating with a sense of urgency to try to close it out." Major music companies are taking an equity stakes in MySpace Music and will share in the advertising revenue. Expect both ad-supported streams and paid downloads at the site. (New York Post)
• Bands and labels beef up the extra content to prop up CD sales. "It's not enough to go and record 10 tracks and call it an album and call it a day. There has to be live content, B-sides, covers, EPK footage, web shorts, videos, podcasts, audiocasts, videocasts, you name it - everything and anything under the sun."(The Canadian Press)
Guy Hands, ceo of Terra Firma and chairman of EMI: "What we are saying to artists is: The current model is broken. Unless we find a new model, new music is dead."
We? There’s no WE Guy.
Kurb is a media promotions company providing a regular blog on digital music promotion, marketing digital content and creating revenue from new media online. Kurb also provides online promotion and revenue management services for musicians and artists internationally And the best value fast turnover physical media services in New Zealand including CD / DVD printing and duplication and poster services.
So digital coaching packages have been filling up quite nicely so you have to get in there. There are 3 spots left and there are 3 people who are interested.
Unlike last year I will be implementing a waiting list and I will put up my prices if I have to keep demand under control because that’s business.
What it means for 50 / 50:
The more people I have paying me, the higher standard ill expect from my 50/50 artists.
what about the plasticast?
Honestly, we’ll have to see. My paying clients come first.
BLOGS COMING UP:
The word on Life after Myspace – where to now?
Lets update and get real about myspace.
The geeks shall inherit the earth? Flee your labels, the geeks are coming!!!
How geeks will destroy and rebuild the music industry
And . . .
I love my competition:
“The internet is undeniably the most valuable tool for the modern musician and any musician not utilizing this technology to promote their music is basically a "caveman musician
Not having your presence felt on the internet is another way of saying you do not want to be discovered.
We work hard to provide you with this internet promotion services and softwares and this is a package included for all our clients to enjoy.”
I love that - “caveman musician” haha funny.
For the first time I’ve found some guys doing what I’m doing who aren’t rip offs. They are talking a whole lot of crap but at least theyre not over charging for what theyre doing.
Now I can’t share ALL my secrets but I will be outsourcing some stuff to these guys so I can provide better all over service. I would not really recommend any artist deal with them directly anyway because not only do I know the basis of their outrageous promises, it is about 90% likely these guys are in India or POSSIBLY China.
Now these guys have got their technical stuff – their “tools” down but when it comes to building real strategies I wouldn’t rely blindly on guys who have probably never been out of India or China to understand the subtleties of promoting your music or finding your audience.
That’s why a lot of this stuff has to be supervised and a lot of the tools they offer have to be deployed in a sensitive way. That’s what I do.
TIDBITS
• The New York Post reported today Sony BMG and Warner Music Group are both near deals with MySpace for its new music site. One source said, "Everybody's operating with a sense of urgency to try to close it out." Major music companies are taking an equity stakes in MySpace Music and will share in the advertising revenue. Expect both ad-supported streams and paid downloads at the site. (New York Post)
• Bands and labels beef up the extra content to prop up CD sales. "It's not enough to go and record 10 tracks and call it an album and call it a day. There has to be live content, B-sides, covers, EPK footage, web shorts, videos, podcasts, audiocasts, videocasts, you name it - everything and anything under the sun."(The Canadian Press)
Guy Hands, ceo of Terra Firma and chairman of EMI: "What we are saying to artists is: The current model is broken. Unless we find a new model, new music is dead."
We? There’s no WE Guy.
Kurb is a media promotions company providing a regular blog on digital music promotion, marketing digital content and creating revenue from new media online. Kurb also provides online promotion and revenue management services for musicians and artists internationally And the best value fast turnover physical media services in New Zealand including CD / DVD printing and duplication and poster services.
http://www.kurb.co.nz/
http://www.myspace.com/kurbpromo
http://www.youtube.com/user/kurbpromo -
http://kurbpromotion.wordpress.com/
http://kurbpromotion.blogspot.com/
http://www.squidoo.com/kurb
All the best with your project, from Kurb
For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo
DIGITAL COACHING AND ONLINE MANAGEMENT STARTS @ $NZ200 P/MONTH P/ACT
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Australian music industry tightens
I was a bit hypocritical in my last post. If I'm not connecting with an audience in New Zealand . . . then really it's just incidental that this is where I live, and I should be posting for my "real" fanbase in Europe, North America and Australia.
My main income is still disc production but this blog isn't about The cheapest CD and DVD duplication in New Zealand. I was working with an Indian band in exchange for sourcing design and tech work, but I was a bit premature there. I will be having another tilt at India this year.
**Don’t forget to add us as a friend / subscribe to blogs at our official 1 Myspace. It’s just when I’m busy I can’t always keep my Australian channels updated. Cheers**
http://www.myspace.com/kurbpromo
Official blog: http://kurbpromotion.wordpress.com
Subscribe in a reader
AUSTRALIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY TIGHTENS
The Australian recorded music industry shrunk by almost 10% last year.
In wholesale value, the market declined by 9.68% to A$462.2 million ($428.5 million), according to figures released today by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). The Aussie market was valued at A$511.7 million ($474.3 million) in 2006.
Unit sales rose by 23.43% to 99.1 million between January to December 2007, up from 80.3 million in the previous calendar year.
Physical formats, which made up 90% of sales, saw a drop of more than 12% both in value and volume to $422.2 million ($391 million) and 51.8 million, respectively. "The key contributor to the decline was a slowing of CD sales in both value and volume," ARIA said, noting that CD albums again took the lions’ share of sales, shifting more than 32 million copies, vs more than 36 million in 2006.
During the same period, 790,000 digital albums were sold -- an 88% rise from the previous year. The format now accounts for just over 2% of the albums market.
Digital wholesale sales rose 126% in unit sales and 43% in dollar value to approximately A$40 million ($37.08 million), compared to $28 million ($25.9 million) in 2006.
Sales of digital track downloads continue their substantial rise, more than making up for the decrease in sales of physical CD singles, which were down in value by 44.08% to $6.7 million ($6.2 million) and 42.33% in unit sales to almost 2.5 million.
Compared to 2006, digital track sales increased in both value and units by 60% with sales of $18.7 million ($17.3 million) on 17.6 million digital tracks. The numbers back a global trend which saw the single track download market grow by 53% around the world to 1.7 billion, according to the IFPI’s Digital Music Report 2008.
The biggest growth in Australia was seen in sales of digital music videos, mobile ringback tunes, streams and subscriptions, bundled together as "digital other". These rose by 500% in unit sales to 23 million, for a value of A$4.5 million ($4.17 million).
More than 5 million music DVDs were sold, accounted for $53 million ($49.1 million) in value, an increase of 7.8% in value, ARIA claims.
Another positive note for the local recorded music industry was the continued strong support for domestic acts. During 2007, 36 Aussie albums made it into the Top 100 sales. Four of the top 10 best-sellers were by local artists, with Missy Higgins’ "On a Clear Night" (Eleven/EMI) at No. 4, Powderfinger’s "Dream Days at the Hotel Existence" (Dew Process/Universal) at No. 6, John Butler Trio’s "Grand National" (Jarrah/MGM) at No. 7, and Silverchair’s "Young Modern" (Eleven/EMI) at No. 9.
In addition, 10 Australian hits made the 50 top-selling digital tracks chart for 2007, including releases by Silverchair, Thirsty Merc (Warner), Sneaky Sound System (Whack/MGM), the Veronicas (Warner), Delta Goodrem (Sony BMG), Ricki-Lee (Shock), Evermore (Warner) and TV Rock (Sony BMG).
Kurb is a music and media promotions company providing a regular blog on digital promotion, marketing digital content and creating revenue from new media online.
Kurb also provides online promotion and revenue management services for musicians and artists internationally and online / digital coaching for small business.
We provide expert and affordable promotion support in all web 2.0 areas: Cutting edge Social Network promotion (Myspace, Facebook, Bebo etc.), Social Media, Blogging, Spam management, Content creation, Content management, Content Distribution, OMD, RSS, Aggregators, podcasts, Search ranking, Search marketing and PPC campaigns on Google and Facebook, Website design, Website monetization, Video production + promotion,
We also have an extensive self promotion area for independent musician and talent featuring dozens of articles, how to features and blog links.
My main income is still disc production but this blog isn't about The cheapest CD and DVD duplication in New Zealand. I was working with an Indian band in exchange for sourcing design and tech work, but I was a bit premature there. I will be having another tilt at India this year.
**Don’t forget to add us as a friend / subscribe to blogs at our official 1 Myspace. It’s just when I’m busy I can’t always keep my Australian channels updated. Cheers**
http://www.myspace.com/kurbpromo
Official blog: http://kurbpromotion.wordpress.com
Subscribe in a readerAUSTRALIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY TIGHTENS
The Australian recorded music industry shrunk by almost 10% last year.
In wholesale value, the market declined by 9.68% to A$462.2 million ($428.5 million), according to figures released today by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). The Aussie market was valued at A$511.7 million ($474.3 million) in 2006.
Unit sales rose by 23.43% to 99.1 million between January to December 2007, up from 80.3 million in the previous calendar year.
Physical formats, which made up 90% of sales, saw a drop of more than 12% both in value and volume to $422.2 million ($391 million) and 51.8 million, respectively. "The key contributor to the decline was a slowing of CD sales in both value and volume," ARIA said, noting that CD albums again took the lions’ share of sales, shifting more than 32 million copies, vs more than 36 million in 2006.
During the same period, 790,000 digital albums were sold -- an 88% rise from the previous year. The format now accounts for just over 2% of the albums market.
Digital wholesale sales rose 126% in unit sales and 43% in dollar value to approximately A$40 million ($37.08 million), compared to $28 million ($25.9 million) in 2006.
Sales of digital track downloads continue their substantial rise, more than making up for the decrease in sales of physical CD singles, which were down in value by 44.08% to $6.7 million ($6.2 million) and 42.33% in unit sales to almost 2.5 million.
Compared to 2006, digital track sales increased in both value and units by 60% with sales of $18.7 million ($17.3 million) on 17.6 million digital tracks. The numbers back a global trend which saw the single track download market grow by 53% around the world to 1.7 billion, according to the IFPI’s Digital Music Report 2008.
The biggest growth in Australia was seen in sales of digital music videos, mobile ringback tunes, streams and subscriptions, bundled together as "digital other". These rose by 500% in unit sales to 23 million, for a value of A$4.5 million ($4.17 million).
More than 5 million music DVDs were sold, accounted for $53 million ($49.1 million) in value, an increase of 7.8% in value, ARIA claims.
Another positive note for the local recorded music industry was the continued strong support for domestic acts. During 2007, 36 Aussie albums made it into the Top 100 sales. Four of the top 10 best-sellers were by local artists, with Missy Higgins’ "On a Clear Night" (Eleven/EMI) at No. 4, Powderfinger’s "Dream Days at the Hotel Existence" (Dew Process/Universal) at No. 6, John Butler Trio’s "Grand National" (Jarrah/MGM) at No. 7, and Silverchair’s "Young Modern" (Eleven/EMI) at No. 9.
In addition, 10 Australian hits made the 50 top-selling digital tracks chart for 2007, including releases by Silverchair, Thirsty Merc (Warner), Sneaky Sound System (Whack/MGM), the Veronicas (Warner), Delta Goodrem (Sony BMG), Ricki-Lee (Shock), Evermore (Warner) and TV Rock (Sony BMG).
Kurb is a music and media promotions company providing a regular blog on digital promotion, marketing digital content and creating revenue from new media online.
Kurb also provides online promotion and revenue management services for musicians and artists internationally and online / digital coaching for small business.
We provide expert and affordable promotion support in all web 2.0 areas: Cutting edge Social Network promotion (Myspace, Facebook, Bebo etc.), Social Media, Blogging, Spam management, Content creation, Content management, Content Distribution, OMD, RSS, Aggregators, podcasts, Search ranking, Search marketing and PPC campaigns on Google and Facebook, Website design, Website monetization, Video production + promotion,
We also have an extensive self promotion area for independent musician and talent featuring dozens of articles, how to features and blog links.
http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmt1cmIuY28ubnov
http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lm15c3BhY2UuY29tL2t1cmJwcm9tbw==
http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUuY29tL3VzZXIva3VyYnByb21v -
http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8va3VyYnByb21vdGlvbi53b3JkcHJlc3MuY29tLw==
http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8va3VyYnByb21vdGlvbi5ibG9nc3BvdC5jb20v
http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnNxdWlkb28uY29tL2t1cmI=
Friday, March 21, 2008
partner ZUxdm26 calling from 2009: born to monetize, baby!
My client base is pretty much almost exclusively based outside of New Zealand now. A couple are admittedly New Zealanders overseas but still.
The NZ Dollar is high but why are more new zealand musicians not thinking of becoming exporters of high grade digital products and services?
It's great for the environment and the economy. Seriously.
Are New Zealanders not that smart? Are they not thinking . . . for every one person in my niche within New Zealand who could be interested in what I'm doing . . . there's probably at least 100 outside of New Zealand.
I've already suggested anyone serious about music in NZ is going to be going to Australia a lot if not for good. Things may be bad for the music biz now but that doesn't change the fact that there is always going to be more people, more and bigger niches, more opportunities, more money, and the cracks are showing that in NZ our market is just TOO SMALL.
If you're NOT planning to become an exporter of high grade digital products and services . . . may as well put your hat down on Queens St. on a friday night. Look real rough and homeless you can definitely make $50 in 2 hours, especially if you cant play or sing, then people will REALLY feel sorry for you.
But ANYWAY
I JUST WANTED TO SHOW YOU THIS.
http://myfuncards.smileycentral.com/download/index.jhtml?partner=ZUxdm266&spu=true
See this is what I'm talking about. When you fill in your details for the free e-greeting cards and install the free e-card toolbar , somewhere in the universe partner ZUxdm26 makes $US1.50. I think that maybe more than some people paid for the radiohead album. Just.
FREE FREE FREE 50 / 50 FREE, FREE, 50 / 50 and . . . FREE
"Hey Yo, it's The Somebodies here up in Auckland! We really want to go on tour across New Zealand again this spring but this time, because we’re still just starting out, we want to make the gigs FREE so as many people - just like you and ALL your friends - can come to the gig as possible, hear our music, and see our new live show!Now we are able to get a little bit of money from the bars and venues but to pay for the whole trip we’re going to have to raise another $1500 so we can afford to play a free show in your town – and guess what? YOU and your friends can help without AND it won't cos you anything! All we need is for 1000 people to sign up for this FREE e card tool bar and we'll be on our way! That's right! It costs nothing, but through the magic of teh interwebz - we get paid!!!! We really want to tour this spring and play some great free gigs for you guys - just MAKE CERTAIN you click through the link below to the sign up page so we can start saving money to come to your town, straight away!"
You kinda get where I'm coming from? I can think of way worse things you could do to your fan base than ask them to sign up for some free crappy e-greeting card toolbar thing. But the beauty is that free crappy e-greeting card things are with us here in 2008. In 2009, internet marketing will become ever more niche, ever more data driven, and you're going to want to convert the strong brand loyalty (attention economy) you've built with your content directly into $$$$ by matching your demographic with the right product for your audience. . . yes sir indeedy! This is a product that may have nothing whatsoever to do with your music and your audience may not even know they need! It’s all about the right product for the right market.
(haha somewhere partner ZUxdm26 the internet marketing blogger is going to come by this page wondering why I'm trying to make him money) YO! IT'S STILL ROCK'N ROLL BABY!!!!
BUT this is what I’m saying spamming myspace ISN’T building a relationship, fake plays and views ISN’T creating loyalty amongst your fanbase. The 1000 true fans model isn’t about being a rock star on a pedestal.
This is where listening to Seth Godin has put me. You will have to BLEED for your fans.Here's something from local dance promoters Tag Promotions that I thought might be a good example:
How can we help you to celebrate a special occasion?We can offer a number of things, some may cost, most will not. Here's a couple of examples: Its your birthday and you know that Tag Promotions will be running at least one major event per month, most likely more, featuring an international breaks DJ/producer. You might like to come to the gig but want to spend time with mates for example. We could maybe offer you a couple of complimentary passes to the event and an agreed amount of earlybird priced tickets for your friends to all attend. Maybe some complimentary drinks? Cheaper drinks on the night? A VIP area for you and your friends?
Tag Promotions not only has a strong fan base and a reputation for a high standard of events, but a strong ongoing relationship with their brand partners Grolsch, Red Bull and Jagermiester.
HI HO, HI HO, IT'S OFF TO MONETIZE DIGITAL CONTENT WE GO . . .
Thursday, March 20, 2008
little amplifier moan and some other NZ stuff
Yup had a record day on my blog yesterday . . . into 3 figures on uniques . . .
YAY
So my post on dirty youtube tricks has had heaps of hits but my new search bait blog which was pretty hot off the mark to announce the latest celebrity nudes to hit the net has had . . .
0 hits.
Remember that when you’re building your niche people/
I've held my tongue in regards to amplifier.co.nz for awhile now, but whats crazy to me is that P-money has an amplifier widget on his page and I have heard nothing about amplifier releasing a widget.
In fact for almost 18 months I’ve been wondering “why doesn’t amplifier help to build the New Zealand music export economy by building and promoting access to widgets for kiwi artists?”
This seems a bit on the nose.
And don't complain that Brad Carter from Steriogram got $50,000 from the government for a band that doesn't exist either.
I tend not to complain. It doesn’t do any good.
Complaining about NZ on Air or Creative NZ never helped me as a musician.
In New Zealand you just tend to look like the leader of the poppy cutting brigade.
Just get on with it. If you’ve got talent and passion you don’t need a hand out from the government.
I'm going to have another go on nzmusic.com soon. They always ban my posts.
Whats that about?
Not that I'm complaining. I thought with the standards of the blogs kept there they'd actually welcome someone talking about . . . y'know . . . music.
Hot tip - muzic.net.nz PR4's all over the show . . . get yer link on it!
also - undertheradar.co.nz - is now selling presales from thier website?
YAY
So my post on dirty youtube tricks has had heaps of hits but my new search bait blog which was pretty hot off the mark to announce the latest celebrity nudes to hit the net has had . . .
0 hits.
Remember that when you’re building your niche people/
I've held my tongue in regards to amplifier.co.nz for awhile now, but whats crazy to me is that P-money has an amplifier widget on his page and I have heard nothing about amplifier releasing a widget.
In fact for almost 18 months I’ve been wondering “why doesn’t amplifier help to build the New Zealand music export economy by building and promoting access to widgets for kiwi artists?”
This seems a bit on the nose.
And don't complain that Brad Carter from Steriogram got $50,000 from the government for a band that doesn't exist either.
I tend not to complain. It doesn’t do any good.
Complaining about NZ on Air or Creative NZ never helped me as a musician.
In New Zealand you just tend to look like the leader of the poppy cutting brigade.
Just get on with it. If you’ve got talent and passion you don’t need a hand out from the government.
I'm going to have another go on nzmusic.com soon. They always ban my posts.
Whats that about?
Not that I'm complaining. I thought with the standards of the blogs kept there they'd actually welcome someone talking about . . . y'know . . . music.
Hot tip - muzic.net.nz PR4's all over the show . . . get yer link on it!
also - undertheradar.co.nz - is now selling presales from thier website?
Announcing the Kurb 50/50 Record deal in New Zealand
The kurb 50 / 50 record deal for Aucklanders and North Islanders.
Kurb is a provider of digital media services for artists at the forefront of new models and developments in the music industry.
We are introducing a new concept in artist management initially to Auckland, New Zealand and then extendingit to the whole North Island of New Zealand.
The Kurb 50 / 50 Record deal.
Basically it works like this.
The digitisation of the music industry has begun to collapse the whole business into a tighter, more niche driven operations, more focused, providing higher value to a smaller audience through a greater range and diversity of products and services then before - but at much higher margins.
In the past a record deal bound an artist to their label exclusively and under limiting financial and creative conditions, including effectively mortgaging the band into debt to pay for the production, marketing and distribution of their album.
BUT THIS IS WHAT WE’RE DOING:
Under Kurb 50 / 50 Kurb is signing the finished recordings themselves, Ideally, at least 40 minutes worth for an “album” project.
And kurb will provide every expense in manufacturing CD’s and providing physical distribution within New Zealand.
Kurb will be responsible for collecting all revenue, distributing 50% OF ALL REVENUE to the artist and providing the artists with legitimate sales and activity reports not less than once a year.
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE ARTIST?
The artists commitment is in having already produced the music. Kurb’s commitment is in taking whatever steps the album requires to reach digital distribution and to produce as many CD’s as we feel is fit to meet demand so at least the artist’s mother can buy one.
PLEASE NOTE: KURB will set the price of the music as we see appropriate, we are likely to give some of the music away free online, and set the price of CD’s at $NZ10 – AND THE BAND WILL HAVE TO PURCHASE THEIR OWN CD’S AT HALF PRICE.
- this may seem tough. But remember who’s paying for everything!
IF I discover the artist has been selling CD’s they’ve manufactured themselves the contract will be forfeit AND I will be PISSED OFF.
That’s pretty much the only hard and fast rule.
KURB makes the CD’s, distributes and monetizes the content online, giving the artists half the money – ARTISTS don’t make thier own CD’s of the recordings to sell.
So (I feel like I’m repeating myself but this must be made clear) what that really means is:
ONCE THE ALBUM IS RECORDED THE ARTIST IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PROMOTE THE ALBUM OR WORK FOR OR WITH KURB IN ANY WAY AGAIN.
BUT ONCE IT’S DISTRIBUTED . . . NOR ARE WE.
We will be pushing the recordings that we sign that prove they can make money. If certain songs or material can’t be monetized then . . . we can only do so much.
What is hoped for is that a true organic partnership is arrived at where everything that Kurb does to create opportunities to monetize the content, also enhances the artists brand, and everything the artist does builds brand recognition that increases the value and appeal of the recordings.
THREE POTENTIALLY NEGATIVE SCENARIOS FOR THE ARTIST
1: The band takes off and the album turns over tens of thousands of dollars, and guarantees a residual income. Kurb continues to collect 50% and the artist decides to release in future completely independently. The artist may decide to retain kurbs regular online artist management services starting at $200 p/month.
2: Despite distribution and promotion, absolutely no one is interested in the album whatsoever. The artists mother purchases a CD for $NZ10, the artist receives $5. Given the result, we decide to recognise that this arist is a low priority for our label.
3: You’re a teenage former child performer with breast implants and have just spent 50k on producing your album and another 50k on your Video and other associated content production expenses. You’re going to need a publicity budget of that again to even dream of recouping and . . . I don’t have that much money. You should probably try and sign with a major label.
WEAKNESSES:
Artist management: I am responsible for your songs, for management of your digital content, not for you. performances and endorsements and such is totally up to you, you should maybe get an agent. If you want to talk about merchandising you can either talk about doing that with us or . . . look after it yourselves or otherwise. Ask nicely and I will probably do some posters for your show.
Publicity. I know the addresses of the Radio stations, the Television stations and the Magazines. I know how to make a press kit. I know how to lick a stamp. But I am not friends with anyone who works at these places and that’s basically what a publicist is. If you’ve got 5k or so it might help there - you might get on TV. And no, I don’t want to “go you halves”.
OKAY I’M INTERESTED, WHAT NOW?
kurbpromo – AT – gmail dot com
027 6848250.
The very best time to call me is lunch break. That is MY lunch break. 5pm-7pm.
I HATE "MEETINGS" AND WILL AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS. DON'T BE OFFENDED.
You know how much time I've spent sitting around talking about things that never happened? TOO MUCH.
I’m going to be really fussy at first before I get into it and loosen up a little bit.
I’m not relying on this being successful, but it would be nice, I guess.
I want an act that’s already performing every month with quality recordings, and a half decent website. I want an act that’s committed to blogging and/or regular production of video content.
Don’t be disheartened if we’re not interested initially. When and if I start scaling up, I can afford to be more lenient in regards to quality control.
PLEASE BE AWARE: I HAVE KNOWN PERSONALLY AND WATCHED 4-5 BIGGISH ACTS IN NEW ZEALAND GROW FROM SCRATCH. THEY WERE ALL PRETTY MUCH DRIPPING WITH TALENT FROM DAY 1 AND IT WAS OBVIOUS IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF HOW AND WHEN.
MAYBE I know my stuff. or MAYBE you just gotta be THAT good.
Kurb is a provider of digital media services for artists at the forefront of new models and developments in the music industry.
We are introducing a new concept in artist management initially to Auckland, New Zealand and then extendingit to the whole North Island of New Zealand.
The Kurb 50 / 50 Record deal.
Basically it works like this.
The digitisation of the music industry has begun to collapse the whole business into a tighter, more niche driven operations, more focused, providing higher value to a smaller audience through a greater range and diversity of products and services then before - but at much higher margins.
In the past a record deal bound an artist to their label exclusively and under limiting financial and creative conditions, including effectively mortgaging the band into debt to pay for the production, marketing and distribution of their album.
BUT THIS IS WHAT WE’RE DOING:
Under Kurb 50 / 50 Kurb is signing the finished recordings themselves, Ideally, at least 40 minutes worth for an “album” project.
And kurb will provide every expense in manufacturing CD’s and providing physical distribution within New Zealand.
Kurb will be responsible for collecting all revenue, distributing 50% OF ALL REVENUE to the artist and providing the artists with legitimate sales and activity reports not less than once a year.
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE ARTIST?
The artists commitment is in having already produced the music. Kurb’s commitment is in taking whatever steps the album requires to reach digital distribution and to produce as many CD’s as we feel is fit to meet demand so at least the artist’s mother can buy one.
PLEASE NOTE: KURB will set the price of the music as we see appropriate, we are likely to give some of the music away free online, and set the price of CD’s at $NZ10 – AND THE BAND WILL HAVE TO PURCHASE THEIR OWN CD’S AT HALF PRICE.
- this may seem tough. But remember who’s paying for everything!
IF I discover the artist has been selling CD’s they’ve manufactured themselves the contract will be forfeit AND I will be PISSED OFF.
That’s pretty much the only hard and fast rule.
KURB makes the CD’s, distributes and monetizes the content online, giving the artists half the money – ARTISTS don’t make thier own CD’s of the recordings to sell.
So (I feel like I’m repeating myself but this must be made clear) what that really means is:
ONCE THE ALBUM IS RECORDED THE ARTIST IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PROMOTE THE ALBUM OR WORK FOR OR WITH KURB IN ANY WAY AGAIN.
BUT ONCE IT’S DISTRIBUTED . . . NOR ARE WE.
We will be pushing the recordings that we sign that prove they can make money. If certain songs or material can’t be monetized then . . . we can only do so much.
What is hoped for is that a true organic partnership is arrived at where everything that Kurb does to create opportunities to monetize the content, also enhances the artists brand, and everything the artist does builds brand recognition that increases the value and appeal of the recordings.
THREE POTENTIALLY NEGATIVE SCENARIOS FOR THE ARTIST
1: The band takes off and the album turns over tens of thousands of dollars, and guarantees a residual income. Kurb continues to collect 50% and the artist decides to release in future completely independently. The artist may decide to retain kurbs regular online artist management services starting at $200 p/month.
2: Despite distribution and promotion, absolutely no one is interested in the album whatsoever. The artists mother purchases a CD for $NZ10, the artist receives $5. Given the result, we decide to recognise that this arist is a low priority for our label.
3: You’re a teenage former child performer with breast implants and have just spent 50k on producing your album and another 50k on your Video and other associated content production expenses. You’re going to need a publicity budget of that again to even dream of recouping and . . . I don’t have that much money. You should probably try and sign with a major label.
WEAKNESSES:
Artist management: I am responsible for your songs, for management of your digital content, not for you. performances and endorsements and such is totally up to you, you should maybe get an agent. If you want to talk about merchandising you can either talk about doing that with us or . . . look after it yourselves or otherwise. Ask nicely and I will probably do some posters for your show.
Publicity. I know the addresses of the Radio stations, the Television stations and the Magazines. I know how to make a press kit. I know how to lick a stamp. But I am not friends with anyone who works at these places and that’s basically what a publicist is. If you’ve got 5k or so it might help there - you might get on TV. And no, I don’t want to “go you halves”.
OKAY I’M INTERESTED, WHAT NOW?
kurbpromo – AT – gmail dot com
027 6848250.
The very best time to call me is lunch break. That is MY lunch break. 5pm-7pm.
I HATE "MEETINGS" AND WILL AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS. DON'T BE OFFENDED.
You know how much time I've spent sitting around talking about things that never happened? TOO MUCH.
I’m going to be really fussy at first before I get into it and loosen up a little bit.
I’m not relying on this being successful, but it would be nice, I guess.
I want an act that’s already performing every month with quality recordings, and a half decent website. I want an act that’s committed to blogging and/or regular production of video content.
Don’t be disheartened if we’re not interested initially. When and if I start scaling up, I can afford to be more lenient in regards to quality control.
PLEASE BE AWARE: I HAVE KNOWN PERSONALLY AND WATCHED 4-5 BIGGISH ACTS IN NEW ZEALAND GROW FROM SCRATCH. THEY WERE ALL PRETTY MUCH DRIPPING WITH TALENT FROM DAY 1 AND IT WAS OBVIOUS IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF HOW AND WHEN.
MAYBE I know my stuff. or MAYBE you just gotta be THAT good.
http://www.kurb.co.nz/
http://www.myspace.com/kurbpromo
http://www.youtube.com/user/kurbpromo -
http://kurbpromotion.wordpress.com//
http://kurbpromotion.blogspot.com/
http://www.squidoo.com/kurb
forget 360 deals - kurb goes 50/50 and offers recording contracts
Awesome link provided by J vibes @ http://www.bluevibestudio.com
http://www.knowthemusicbiz.com/index.php/BIZ-BLOG/A-Fifth-Beatle-for-the-Digital-Age-by-Tim-Westergren.html
Need a 5th digital beatle? Get my number . . . don’t call me in the morning because I’m up all night writing blogs and putting up posters in town.
ANYWAY 50 / 50 lets talk about it!!!!
Last year – I hope I posted it!!! Or not! Haha – I did a riff about kurb creating deals with artists.
My slightly smug I suppose proposition was that in exchange for promoting a band I would take 100% of the profits from their recorded music. The bands share would be whatever else they could make from gigging, merchandise etc.
just like a real label, really, I wasn’t really serious.
recently after reading so much stuff about the new wave of marketing – and how the whole “free” thing is blowing up – not just music, Chris Anderson, Mr. Long Tail , and all these mad marketers are talking about making everything free, it’s like world war free!!!.
These people want to do what TV did to movies . . . to everything else!!!
Imagine that? buying - wait – being GIVEN a drill if you accepted receiving ads for other tools for 3 months??
Anyway. Back to the proposition. I realise, as I mentioned in a recent post, there’s a need to continue to be innovative and deliver propositions that make people go . . . wow!!! I gotta know more about that!!! To progress/
Also I’ve been aware of my own position of advantage to create these types of truly innovative propositions, and although my current proposition protects me from going unrewarded for any work put into a certain act there are definite flaws, because there are walls, and the new media environment is all about access.
The biggest wall is obviously the $NZ50-100 I expect a band to pay me each week.
To create value from the types of services I provide will undoubtedly take months, and it can be a nervous relationship between an artist and I when cash is short and the artist expects revenue to come when that simply isn’t going to happen without months of work and thousands of dollars investment.
Now to create the dynamic proposition, I have to put myself in a position where I am showing I am sharing the risk in good faith and accepting responsibility for the outcome of my efforts – if it doesn’t work then I don’t get paid – and the poor artists are not left out of pocket.
But I have to protect my investment. And my investment is not the artist, but the songs. I am not signing acts to 50/50. I am signing groups of songs as a project.
But everything I do to promote and monetize those recordings helps the band. And everything the band does to monetize outside of those recordings, still promotes those recordings.
The whole point is as far as collecting revenue from publishing, royalties, licensing, retail, ad supported platforms etc. the artist doesn’t really have to do a thing once the recordings are finished.
But then I guess that’s the catch with 50/50. Because I’ve followed through on my initial commitment to make the music available for download and CD release, neither do I.
Okay
NEXT POST . . . IT’S HERE KURB 50/50
PUT AN ALBUM OUT WITH KURB.
YOU GET HALF. WE GET HALF.
EVERYONE’S HAPPY.
PS haha isn’t it ironic that I’m only offering the service in Auckland initially because . . .
AT LEAST I KNOW I CAN SELL A FEW CD’S.
Oh it’s all changing so quickly isn’t it?
Haha – hey! coordination is all about judging HOW FAST a moving object is going.
If I pass you the mic . . . don’t drop it.
Kurb is a New Zealand based media promotions company providing a regular blog on digital promotion, marketing digital content and creating revenue from new media online.
Kurb also provides online promotion and revenue management services for musicians and artists internationally and online / digital coaching for small business. We rank #1 for "online promotion" in New Zealand.
And the best value fast turnover physical media services in New Zealand including CD / DVD duplication and poster services.
Our physical media services come with free graphic set up and support, free delivery, and free promotions advice and support for musicians.
We provide expert and affordable promotion support in all web 2.0 areas: Cutting edge Social Network promotion (Myspace, Facebook, Bebo etc.), Social Media, Blogging, Spam management, Content creation, Content management, Content Distribution, OMD, RSS, Aggregators, podcasts, Search ranking, Search marketing and PPC campaigns on Google and Facebook, Website design, Website monetization, Video production + promotion,
We also have an extensive self promotion area for independent musician and talent featuring dozens of articles, how to features and blog links.
http://www.kurb.co.nz
http://www.myspace.com/kurbpromo
http://www.youtube.com/user/kurbpromo -
http://kurbpromotion.wordpress.com
http://kurbpromotion.blogspot.com
http://www.squidoo.com/kurb
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
marketing around unique concepts, your blog, web 2.0
To me the idea of hooks – ideas, concepts, unique selling points – are an essential part of drawing in your initial audience.
So my blog is starting to move off the mark – and I recognised the pattern from all reports that the first 6 lonely months are something you’ve just go to get through – BUT now I’ve started to build a platform I can put forward my own unique concepts.
And artists with a strong blog can interact with their fans in this way and experiment with ideas that are super freaky cool and get everyone talking.
I’m really keen to start talking about this 50/50 thing.
It’s pretty simple: An act brings a bunch of recordings to me, hopefully enough for an album. Kurb takes the songs, we build the products and the campaign, we bring half the money we take back to the artist.
The artist never puts up a cent. But we take half of every income stream available from the recording. Forever.
Pretty straightforward. I will only be offering this to Auckland based acts initially. Hamilton/Whangarei/Tauranga maybe.
See because of my blog it doesn’t matter if it actually happens because the ideas are out there. And if someone half decent comes along and says okay Kurb, we’ll give you half the cash if you put our album out for us, then I can say sure, but I want to write about some of what I’m doing on my blog, so I can illustrate what digital promotion is bringing to artist management.
I want everyone in
Oh it’s way long tail.
There’s this chick on the music think tank from Ariel publicity it said this about her:
After 10 years of supporting mostly indie artists (1100 of them) she took the company 100% digital and renamed it Cyber PR, slashed her rates to 1/10 of what she used to charge and quadrupled her client base - and has been having a blast ever since! She is the author of 'Boost Your Music Career in 10 Steps' and runs workshops and seminars on music promotion.
let me get this straight she:
took the company 100% digital and renamed it Cyber PR, slashed her rates to 1/10 of what she used to charge and quadrupled her client base.
After thinking about the 50/50 thing I kinda thought there was something in that.
As I said in my last blog – artists have no money, and to be honest, though I’m a lot cheaper than a publicist, you cant just throw a few hundred dollars at me and expect earth moving results! It doesn’t work that way.
But think about it. With Kurb 50/50 we’ve got the promotion – you don’t even have to work that hard if you’ve got talent!
But thats the point of this post: it doesn't matter if it works or not. At Kurb we're innovating. And if we're innovating and peole are talking about the ideas arising from that then we're making progress.
Kurb is a New Zealand based media promotions company providing a regular blog on digital promotion, marketing digital content and creating revenue from new media online.
Kurb also provides online promotion and revenue management services for musicians and artists internationally and online / digital coaching for small business. We rank #1 for "online promotion" in
And the best value fast turnover physical media services in
Our physical media services come with free graphic set up and support, free delivery, and free promotions advice and support for musicians.
We provide expert and affordable promotion support in all web 2.0 areas: Cutting edge Social Network promotion (Myspace, Facebook, Bebo etc.), Social Media, Blogging, Spam management, Content creation, Content management, Content Distribution, OMD, RSS, Aggregators, podcasts, Search ranking, Search marketing and PPC campaigns on Google and Facebook, Website design, Website monetization, Video production + promotion,
We also have an extensive self promotion area for independent musician and talent featuring dozens of articles, how to features and blog links.
http://www.kurb.co.nz
http://www.myspace.com/kurbpromo
http://www.youtube.com/user/kurbpromo -
http://kurbpromotion.wordpress.com
http://kurbpromotion.blogspot.com
http://www.squidoo.com/kurb
digital artist management: final news/update bonus round
Few rumblings on the tech side. Apparently some big progress has been made on the myspace promotion front. It does mean me spending money on new software platforms that sound a bit too good to be true but we’ll see how it goes.
– but really – myspace will still only ever be a shadow of it’s former self. The life is gone so you really need to know what you’re doing to get the best out of it. Lucky myspace has retained it’s brand as a music destination.
So for those starting out – you gotta start somewhere and myspace is as good a place as any.
But right now I’m looking at my competitors in a really web 2.0 kinda way and thinking, god why don’t I just outsource all of my day to day spam kind of stuff so I can focus more on the bigger picture – y’know, the hard question right now - of BREAKING AN ACT.
What’s breaking? You heard the man! 1000 true fans!
DO the math like Trent Reznor did last week! 2,500 x 300 = doing pretty okay!
OKAY.
now that I’ve done my little update and familiarised myself with the frontline of music 2.0 promotion (see: bonus level power up 3)
I’ve been brushing up on my search engine skills with a few new tools and I got back into some serious research concerning the direction I’m going with that has created a little bit of interest in my blog – your website being more important than your album, because the attention you can create on your website will be easier to make money off – “monetize” than copies of your digital content.
See, I got my break in music promotion from hanging out online with some bad people. I got all my software and all the tricks I’ve learnt since from very bad spammers, the types that yknow use myspace tricks to try and get you to join dating sites.
I was just hanging around them to learn stuff I could use to promote bands. I didn’t really follow to deeply into exactly how they made their money but I knew it was about adsense pay per click and more importantly affiliate marketing – your ad brings a buyer to a landing or sale page, and you get paid a generous commission.
But learning how easy it’d all been made . . . and is continually being made more so . . . The possibilities are getting me excited. What you can do with the attention economy . . .
It goes way beyond problogging and simply having google ads on your website and blog!
By next year once I’ve really got into understanding how to operate ad supported platforms I’m going to be talking about more than 2c a hit.
I’m talking about turning 1000 true fans into $1000 on a regular basis.
Do you think a true fan would sign up for some crappy free ringtone or dating site – FREE – if they knew once a thousand people had signed up and you’d collected over $US1000 in affiliate pay outs, you were going to give a new song away free?
Ad supported revenue just offers so many possibilities for creating revenue in a whole new way than any artists or manager could imagine.
And that’s the horse I’m backing, that’s where I’m throwing in my lot, that’s the way I’m playing my hand.
I make CD’s, that’s my main income. I ain’t gonna stop making them. I’m going to be talking to clients one on one about licensing. We’ll be looking at merchandising
I probably still won’t touch gigs unless I’m needed for promotion
But ad supported revenue – working with someone like me with knowledge of the digital environment – by 2009 will be the best way for musicians to attempt to earn a full time living from doing what they love.
But how will new acts get the momentum, get the fanbase and traffic to a point where they can make money off it if they cant pay someone like me to work with them for up to a year before seeing returns???
Well now that my promotion power up series of reports is OVER and my car is ready to pick up from the garage . . . we can get onto that!
– but really – myspace will still only ever be a shadow of it’s former self. The life is gone so you really need to know what you’re doing to get the best out of it. Lucky myspace has retained it’s brand as a music destination.
So for those starting out – you gotta start somewhere and myspace is as good a place as any.
But right now I’m looking at my competitors in a really web 2.0 kinda way and thinking, god why don’t I just outsource all of my day to day spam kind of stuff so I can focus more on the bigger picture – y’know, the hard question right now - of BREAKING AN ACT.
What’s breaking? You heard the man! 1000 true fans!
DO the math like Trent Reznor did last week! 2,500 x 300 = doing pretty okay!
OKAY.
now that I’ve done my little update and familiarised myself with the frontline of music 2.0 promotion (see: bonus level power up 3)
I’ve been brushing up on my search engine skills with a few new tools and I got back into some serious research concerning the direction I’m going with that has created a little bit of interest in my blog – your website being more important than your album, because the attention you can create on your website will be easier to make money off – “monetize” than copies of your digital content.
See, I got my break in music promotion from hanging out online with some bad people. I got all my software and all the tricks I’ve learnt since from very bad spammers, the types that yknow use myspace tricks to try and get you to join dating sites.
I was just hanging around them to learn stuff I could use to promote bands. I didn’t really follow to deeply into exactly how they made their money but I knew it was about adsense pay per click and more importantly affiliate marketing – your ad brings a buyer to a landing or sale page, and you get paid a generous commission.
But learning how easy it’d all been made . . . and is continually being made more so . . . The possibilities are getting me excited. What you can do with the attention economy . . .
It goes way beyond problogging and simply having google ads on your website and blog!
By next year once I’ve really got into understanding how to operate ad supported platforms I’m going to be talking about more than 2c a hit.
I’m talking about turning 1000 true fans into $1000 on a regular basis.
Do you think a true fan would sign up for some crappy free ringtone or dating site – FREE – if they knew once a thousand people had signed up and you’d collected over $US1000 in affiliate pay outs, you were going to give a new song away free?
Ad supported revenue just offers so many possibilities for creating revenue in a whole new way than any artists or manager could imagine.
And that’s the horse I’m backing, that’s where I’m throwing in my lot, that’s the way I’m playing my hand.
I make CD’s, that’s my main income. I ain’t gonna stop making them. I’m going to be talking to clients one on one about licensing. We’ll be looking at merchandising
I probably still won’t touch gigs unless I’m needed for promotion
But ad supported revenue – working with someone like me with knowledge of the digital environment – by 2009 will be the best way for musicians to attempt to earn a full time living from doing what they love.
But how will new acts get the momentum, get the fanbase and traffic to a point where they can make money off it if they cant pay someone like me to work with them for up to a year before seeing returns???
Well now that my promotion power up series of reports is OVER and my car is ready to pick up from the garage . . . we can get onto that!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Bob rant on SXSW
I thought it was just another Bob rant - if you missed it check it, it created a lot of commentary. For the first time I looked into my position on Bob and came up feeling as if . . .
I think he does get a bit fairytale thinking that a boy or a girl with a guitar y'know "who is true of heart and mind" can save the music industry - fuck the labels - and it's all about being true to the music, and being a real person connected with your fans . . . and I don't disagree with that!
Uhhhh that doesn't mean you don't need a professional, tech-savvy marketing strategy and you can stop going to the gym!
But other than that by being "true" and "real" etc. etc. I'M SURE you'll have built up a fanbase by the time your 50. Maybe if I'm not already millionaire music mogul by then we can talk. :p
over to Bob:
Can an unsigned band get noticed? And, do we even bother to use that term anymore, "unsigned". Do you want to get signed?
I mean what are the chances that the cognoscenti are going to care about your band when R.E.M. and even Van Morrison are shilling for attention. Oh, it makes you feel good, to rent a U-Haul, sleep four to a room and perform a set no one cares about. The same way it makes you feel good to send a CD to me! It’s amazing what people will do to make themselves feel good, make them believe they’re making progress.
The new music business isn’t at SXSW. Why should it be?
Think about it. If Yahoo and Google sprung up out of nowhere, what makes you think the powers-that-be in the music industry are going to rule in the future?
So you’re gonna make a deal with a major, a 360 deal, because that’s all they want. You’re gonna put yourself in the hands of the old generation, lock yourself up completely, because it seems easier this way, you can sleep at night, knowing you’ve got a signed contract locked up somewhere. But when your record stiffs since the label is chasing the product of the good-looker who recorded the songs they wanted them to, the radio-friendly stuff, and you’re tied up forever, who you gonna call, GHOSTBUSTERS?
The one person you might want to hook up with at SXSW is an agent. But an agent is first and foremost impressed with your Pollstar numbers. An agent wants to see your track record. Where you can draw people. Actually, an agent doesn’t give a shit WHAT you play as long as people want to come hear it. The agent won’t tell you what to record and what to wear, they’re just interested in selling tickets. They don’t even give a shit if you’ve got a record deal, just whether you’ve got an AUDIENCE!
And it’s harder than ever to gain an audience if you’re playing with the usual suspects. All they know is radio. How come you’re going to sign with these guys when YOU have contempt for radio? All you bands playing SXSW, you abhor Top Forty radio, but that’s all the majors are interested in. And chances are if you’re a good-looking automaton, ready to go the Jessica/Paris/Lindsay route, you’ve already got handlers in New York or L.A. with a pipeline to the old guard, you don’t have to go to SXSW to get noticed.
Or you could go to the panels at SXSW. To learn that fewer people have jobs at less money. I’ve debated Net monetization at these conventions for NINE YEARS and nothing has happened. Everybody’s just reacted to what some college student, not in attendance, ultimately has done.
Everyone’s looking for a shortcut. Everyone’s looking for answers. Everybody wants to get PAID!
Music isn’t about money, but passion. If you’ve got the passion and are willing to work 24/7, you might ultimately get money. Probably long after your friends who went to law school do, if ever.
The whole scene is warped. With MTV’s "Cribs" and rappers extolling their high-rolling lifestyles. Don’t you watch VH1? The lifestyles of the one time rich and famous EVAPORATE! And then, if you’re lucky, you can be television fodder, for the public to laugh at.
All that MTV-era bullshit is done. It’s not about your look. It’s not even about following trends. It’s not about signing on the bottom line for a zillion bucks. It’s about making music. Constantly. Not on a one album every three year cycle. The Net audience wants new tunes all the time. A steady stream. Your hard core fans anyway. If you’re playing to the casual listener, you’re abusing your hard core. Let the casual user find you VIA the hard core. A single on the radio for nine months may generate cash once, but it turns a hell of a lot of people off. Like Taylor Swift. If I hear about her fucking teardrops on her guitar one more time, I’m going to VOMIT! Just shut up and make another record. I was a fan, now I just see a young girl being raped by the system. A system that doesn’t care about the fans, but only about the short term money.
Don’t worry about the short term money. If your music is good, if you play well live, the money will come. But sending me a CD or schlepping your equipment to SXSW isn’t going to make your music any better. If it’s good, put it on the Web, energize your fans, they’ll spread the word. But you probably suck and are looking for the easy way out. And crying that you just can’t make any money. Boofuckinghoo.
Kurb is a New Zealand based media promotions company providing a regular blog on digital promotion, marketing digital content and creating revenue from new media online.
Kurb also provides online promotion and revenue management services for musicians and artists internationally and online / digital coaching for small business. We rank #1 for "online promotion" in
And the best value fast turnover physical media services in
Our physical media services come with free graphic set up and support, free delivery, and free promotions advice and support for musicians.
We provide expert and affordable promotion support in all web 2.0 areas: Cutting edge Social Network promotion (Myspace, Facebook, Bebo etc.), Social Media, Blogging, Spam management, Content creation, Content management, Content Distribution, OMD, RSS, Aggregators, podcasts, Search ranking, Search marketing and PPC campaigns on Google and Facebook, Website design, Website monetization, Video production + promotion,
We also have an extensive self promotion area for independent musician and talent featuring dozens of articles, how to features and blog links.
http://www.kurb.co.nz/
http://www.myspace.com/kurbpromo
http://www.youtube.com/user/kurbpromo -
http://kurbpromotion.wordpress.com/
http://kurbpromotion.blogspot.com/
http://www.squidoo.com/kurb
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
